Chapter 3
The Green Eye
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School was boring that day. Nitin drifted off in most of the classes to the lowest compartment of his wardrobe, where, within a layer of his clothes, he had concealed the box. While moving out for school, his father had announced a terrible line. (“Phone restricted for a week”). But Nitin still didn’t know who had texted him in the night.
After enduring a torture from history, Nitin was relieved to hear another announcement. The class teacher handed out forms for a trip. Nitin was ready for any excuse to avoid school, and exemptions from tests.
The trip was to Srinagar. Better than Pachmadhi they took last time. He had to somehow convince his father. What irritated him about Vyom was that he was overprotective. Being a single parent didn’t mean you had to care the double. Nitin was restricted for night stays, coming home later then 8 pm, going out of the house at night and especially, trips that led out of the state.
After the lunch break, Nitin got involved in something strange.
Summer noon are difficult to endure, but still a group played in the field. Nitin had friends, but not groups. He liked their warmth, and still preferred solitude. Deepak, a stranger to him a few days ago, had commented he was kind, maybe that’s why the whole class liked him. Whatever the reason, he sat alone under the shade. One of the passing comments he was used to hear was : “you are thinking how to draw this scene, aren’t you?” Nitin always wondered what made them think like that.
Then off in the corner, a crowd was forming. They were looking at something on the ground. More children joined the crowd. Nitin realized he should get up. When he reached the crowd, the children spit apart. Was there an animal?
“Get away, you boy!” someone shouted from back.
Nitin still stood there. What was happening?
“Run!”
Then, on the ground, he saw, a slithering snake. Slithering towards him.
No one stood around him. They shouted from behind, telling him to run away. Nitin didn’t move.
The snake waved like ripples in the water. It raised its head in front of Nitin. For a moment, Nitin didn’t understand what he should do. It was too late to run. And if he ran, the snake would chase him. The snake’s scales glittered under the sun. Its eyes were not moving away from Nitin. He realized it was a cobra.
Then someone pushed him back. Nitin stumbled and fell on his elbows. There were murmurs in the crowd. Nitin’s eyes gained focus. He saw a school worker fighting away the cobra with a spiked stick. The cobra hissed and showed its forked tongue. The worker tried to impale the cobra, but it was too agile and thin.
Something clicked inside Nitin. He, still lying on his elbows, raised his arm, though he didn’t know why. His eyes concentrated on the spear.
The stick exploded. Its splinters flew in all directions. One hit the worker just below his eye. The cobra eyed Nitin for a few seconds, then lowered its head, raised it up and slithered away in the bushes. The dam of silence broke. Nitin heard some cries and buzzes as he fainted.
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Everything around Nitin was white. Snow actually. He was in Naghbal. The place was beautiful. Trees laden with snow dotted the area. A beautiful spring gushed ahead, shimmering blue under the sun. Tourists wound their way here and there.
Nitin felt shivers all over his body. They were not because of fear, but cold. The wind was attacking, stinging like cold bees. But the air was fresh.
Then there was his father, somewhere in his twenties. He wore his usual rimless glasses. Nitin realized his father was a fan of that type since his teens. He had a thicker hair, but rough all the same. He wore a red jacket, gloves and a muffler around his neck. A girl of around the same age stood near him. It looked like as though they had met only some days ago. The girl had something admiring; long wavy jet-black hair that blew in the wind. She was a Kashmiri, her skin tone told that. Despite the cold, she didn’t wear much woolens. Nitin found her of the obdurate type.
Nitin tried to approach his father. His legs didn’t move. He viewed his location. Something was not right. He was simply there some yard away from his father. It seemed his legs were plastered by the snow. Nitin called out Vyom, but he had lost his voice too. During his fidgeting, he heard a word that literally petrified him.
“Mansa.”
Vyom had called the girl.
Nitin watched them carefully.
“Yes?” The girl had an air of hardness.
“You are not thinking about it, are you?” Vyom and Mansa were huddled together now.
“About what?” Mansa said tauntingly.
“Mansa! I am leaving. Our program here is over.”
“So what? You will come again.”
“Of course, I will come. But aren’t you worried I won’t come?”
“Of course not.”
Vyom was stunned. Then he smiled.
“You already returned, you will come again. See,” Mansa said, “we are married now. I will wait for you. In two years, you will get a house where we both could live.”
“What if it took more than two years? I am still doing Medical?”
“You are a pessimist!”
Vyom and Mansa stood in silence. Snow had begun its magic, falling down like fluffy cotton balls. Mansa’s face brightened and she stretched her arms far wide.
“We need an umbrella!” Vyom had not noticed her.
“Oh! C’mon, it’s snowing!”
Vyom grunted.
Mansa’s eyes met Nitin’s. Nitin stared. No, he wasn’t there. This is not happening. Mansa kept on gazing on him. Just then, her eyes flickered green and all the images faded away.
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